The state of the art is represented by commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,854,024; 4,923,169; and 4,934,653. FIGS. 8 and 9 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,169 illustrate a thin disc orifice member containing a cone-shaped dimple. Two orifices are contained in the dimple and are symmetrically arranged about the dimple's axis. Each orifice emits a corresponding stream of liquid fuel. That fuel injector can be used in association with an engine's combustion chamber cylinder which has two parallel intake valves to the cylinder. The fuel injector's axis, and hence that of the dimple, is aimed at a line extending between target zones on the respective intake valves, and the fuel injector is circumferentially oriented in its mounting hole such that each stream of fuel passing through the orifices of the thin disc orifice member is aimed toward a corresponding target zone on the corresponding intake valve.
The present invention relates to a new and unique orifice arrangement in a thin disc orifice member which provides substantially improved versatility in mounting of the fuel injector on the engine. Specifically, the invention makes it possible to mount the fuel injector on the engine in orientations which would be impossible with a fuel injector embodying the thin disc orifice member of FIGS. 8 and 9 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,169 while still directing individual fuel streams toward the desired individual target zones on the individual intake valves. Because of the invention, the packaging of the fuel injectors on an engine is not necessarily restricted by a requirement that the fuel injector axis lie in a plane that perpendicularly bisects a line extending between the target zones, nor by a requirement that the fuel injector axis point toward a line extending between the target zones. Accordingly, the invention can serve to significantly facilitate fuel injector packaging and installation on certain engines. For example, the invention can provide a reduced-height packaging envelope for the fuel injectors, and in an automotive vehicle this can be important from the standpoint of engine compartment design and vehicle styling. The principles of the invention are adapted not only to thin disc orifice members having multiple orifices, but to those having but a single orifice. The ensuing description will present embodiments of the present invention which contain a thin disc orifice member having a single orifice in its dimple and a thin disc orifice member having two single orifices in its dimple.